Minister for Education Lawrence Wong issued the Ministry of Education's (MOE) addenda to President Halimah's address.

In it, Wong talked about ensuring that education remains an effective social leveller.

More support for students, including those with special needs

By 2025, there will be at least 60 MOE Kindergartens.

They will also deepen support for students with special needs – by strengthening educators’ professional competencies in both mainstream and Special Education (SPED) schools, as well as opening new SPED schools and upgrading existing ones.

More Singaporeans will be able to benefit from the recently enhanced MOE Financial Assistance Scheme and Government bursaries for students in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

Building on this year's home-based learning experience due to Covid-19, MOE will make blended learning an integral feature of the curriculum from next year.

As part of the National Digital Literacy Programme, MOE will accelerate the roll out of personal digital learning devices to all secondary school students by end-2021.

A refreshed Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum will be progressively rolled out in all schools, to give added focus to mental health and cyber wellness education.

Broad-based curriculum and industry-relevant programmes

In secondary schools, teachers will engage students in regular discussions on contemporary issues and equip them with critical thinking skills to navigate such issues.

Students can look forward to more broad-based common core curricula and access to electives, as well as new industry-relevant degree programmes that integrate knowledge from different disciplines.

More common entry programmes will be introduced in the Polytechnics, and university students will have more time to declare their major.

From 2021, the Primary School Leaving Examination will have wider scoring bands.

By 2024, streaming will be phased out and Full Subject-Based Banding will be implemented across secondary schools.

Expanded post-secondary progression

Post-secondary progression pathways for students with different aptitudes and skills will also be extended.

By 2030, all Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduates will have a range of opportunities to upgrade beyond Nitec over the course of their careers, according to their interests and learning needs.

The number of places in ITE’s Work-Study Diplomas and full-time Higher Nitec programmes, as well as the number of places for working adults in full-time Polytechnic diploma programmes, will be increased.

The adoption of Aptitude-Based Admissions across Singapore's six Autonomous Universities will also be expanded.

IHLs will ramp up their capacity for continuing education and training and increase their range of industry-relevant modular courses to support lifelong learning.

Mid-career workers to also benefit

Wong said that MOE will also grow SkillsFuture Work-Study Programmes into a mainstream pathway by 2025 so that more

students can benefit from learning opportunities both in the workplace and the classroom.

Mid-career workers in their 40s and 50s, will be provided with additional help to refresh their skill sets.

SkillsFuture for Educators (SFEd) will provide a roadmap for all teachers to strengthen their practice in six areas: assessment literacy, differentiated instruction, inquiry-based learning, pedagogy, CCE, and support for students with special educational needs.

Other addenda

Image from Lawrence Wong's Facebook